Barriers of Electronic Health Records Implementation

• Introduction: The critical dependence of healthcare services systems on information along with the indigenous restriction of paper documents in satisfying this need has caused a trend toward computer information systems. The main goal of such systems is to achieve electronic health records (EHR). However, implementation of EHR in healthcare organizations is difficult and complicated. This research aimed to assess the barriers of EHR implementation. • Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2010. It included 120 employees (such as physicians, nurses, laboratory and radiology and medical records departments staff) from teaching hospitals affiliated to Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Data was collected by a self-developed questionnaire whose reliability and validity had been measured by specialists and internal consistency method (r = 0.86), respectively. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and analytical statistics (t-test and chi-square test) in SPSS. • Results: Based on our results, attitudinal-behavioral (93.4%) and organizational change barriers (88.4%) scored the highest among the barriers of HER implementation. In addition, minimum scores were related to financial barriers (72.8%). Correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between job and organizational change barriers (p = 0.003), and also between the history and attitudinal-behavioral barriers (p = 0.006). • Conclusion: Since the most important barriers of EHR implementation were attitudinal-behavioral barriers and organizational change barriers, educational interventions seem necessary to create an appropriate attitude among health care providers. Increasing knowledge of system users about the features, objectives, benefits and positive effects of the system while ensuring the confidentiality and security of HER would decrease change resistance and increase the acceptance and participation in EHR implementation. • Keywords: Electronic Health Records; Technical Constraints; Constraints.